A big pair(10s or higher) is usually playable and warrants raising. Your goal in raising is to make it expensive for drawing hands to continue playing. This way players won’t be able draw hands and will become inpatient. A single hair pair is favored against someone who has a straight or a flush draw. Against two or more draws, then you become the underdog.

It is a good thing to have buried pair(both cards hidden) than having one of the cards of your pair exposed and the other hidden. There are many reasons for this, for one it’s deceptive, if your opponent cannot see your pair it’s hard for him to assess the strength of your hand.

Whether you have a pair of deuces or a bigger pair is important but more important is the side cards in your hand that are higher rank than your opponent’s pair. If you hold big, live side cards and also possess a small pair, you chances of winning depend on how you use the small pair side card with a big pair.

Small or medium pairs usually find themselves swimming upstream and need to pair one of those big side cards in order to win. You need to pair one these small cards with a big one like the ace or queen. You could just go for a single high pair.

The best starting hand in Stud is a Three-Of-a-Kind, which is also called trips. But it’s really really rare to get, you chances once in 425 times. If you play lots of games which are long sessions, statistics say that you should say one or play one every 2 or 3 days. While it’s possible that you get a lower trip than your opponent it is very rare. If you are dealt trips you can asssume that you are in the lead.

You can’t imrove with a trip, the odds are 1.5 to 1, if you start with a trip. You probably won’t make a flush or a straight if you had a trip. But you can improve to a full house or four-of-a-kind, and that point the game is sure as done.

With trips you will see the hand through the river, unless its obvious that you are beaten. That is a rarity, though, in this game.